Global Congress Update: Pre-Recorded Surgeries and Surgical Tutorials

We are just three months away from the 52^nd AAGL Global Congress to be held November 5-8, 2023, in Nashville, Tennessee. Registration and discounted hotel rates are now open. We anticipate attendees from 70+ different countries this year with many of you already securing your ticket. Early bird discounted registration ends Sunday, September 10, 2023, 11:59pm, PST.

I encourage all of you to register now and catch our pre-Congress webinar, Necessity is the Mother of Invention – How Cost and Environmental Mindfulness May Help Improve the Future of MIGS, to be presented on September 9th. This live webinar event will explain the purpose and impact of this year’s theme, Sustainability in Surgery: Paving the Way Together.

Expert faculty from 30 countries have been meticulously selected by the Scientific Program Committee to deliver a robust, four-day program that will inform and elevate the practice of both novice and seasoned attendees alike. This thoughtfully developed program includes Continuing Medical Education (CME) opportunities in all modalities of MIGS presented through 20 Postgraduate Courses, 3 Labs, 8 Oral Sessions, 19 Video Sessions, 3 Debates, 3 Panel Discussions, 7 Surgical Tutorials, 7 Pre-recorded Surgeries, 5 AAGL MED Talks, 6 General Sessions, and Virtual Posters with narration from presenters. A wide variety of topics will be studied including Artificial Intelligence and the future of Gynecologic Surgery, Gyn Oncology, Management of Unusual Ectopic Pregnancies, Organ-Specific Complications, Novel Fibroid Treatments, Pelvic Pain, Endometriosis, Infertility, Myomectomy, Complex Laparoscopic Hysterectomy, Surgical Anatomy, Suturing, Adenomyosis, Patient Advocacy, and more.

Our Pre-recorded Surgeries and Surgical Tutorials provide clear examples of elevated surgical skill and are accompanied by discussion and lecture that will help you to apply these skills in your practice. Scattered throughout the six General Sessions will be more than seven Pre-recorded Surgeries by fellows from across the globe. In General Session 1, Charlottee Rook (Centre for Advanced Reproductive Endosurgery (CARE), Sydney, Australia) will present Management of C-section Defect Ectopic Pregnancy and Repair using Robotic Surgery. This will be followed by a Pre-recorded Surgery presentation on Adenomyomectomy with Bilateral Uterine Artery Clipping by Hosam Hanna and Shivani Parikh (both from the University of Louisville Hospital, Louisville, Kentucky). Then on Tuesday, in General Session III, Nomonde Mbatani (University of Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa) and Jubilee Brown (Levine Cancer Institute Morehead Gynecologic, Charlotte, North Carolina) will present Comparing Surgical Approaches to Endometrial Cancer. In General Session IV, Horace Roman (Department of Pediatric Epidemiology of Charleston, South Carolina and practicing in Clinique Tivoli-Ducos, Bordeaux, France) will present the Pre-recorded Surgery: Endometriosis Sacral Root Surgery. In General Session V we will receive training through two Pre-recorded Surgeries regarding Preserving the Uterus. The first is a Laparoscopic Myomectomy by George Pistofidis (Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, London, UK and practices at Lefkos Stavros Hospital in Athens, Greece) and the second will be on Robotic Myomectomy by Kathy Huang (NYU Langone Health, New York, New York). Last, in General Session VI we will see a Pre-recorded Surgery presentation by Pandit Annrao Palaskar (Endoworld Hospital, Aurangabad, India) on Laparoscopic Tubal Reanastomosis for Tubal Block or Ligation. Each of these presentations offers opportunities for audience involvement through a time of questions and answers.

We also have a tremendous lineup of Surgical Tutorials that will catch your interest. Chair Frank F. Tu and Faculty Noah Goldman and Eric Sokol (both from USA) present Surgical Tutorial 1: Optimizing Surgical Retraction Under a Formal Framework. This tutorial will highlight crucial concepts in retraction for complex gynecological surgery. Experts will provide complementary approaches using the overarching framework of providing ideal exposure for pelvic surgery for laparoscopic, vaginal, and open surgery. In addition, novel approaches, and emerging innovations in tools to solve well-recognized retraction problems will be presented. Next, in Surgical Tutorial 2: How to Best Approach Hysterectomy in a Sustainable Way: The ASEAN Safety and Standards, Chair Prudence Valera Aquino-Aquino (Philippines) and Faculty Pattaya Hengrasmee (Thailand) Chung-hsien Sun (Taiwan) will provide tips and tricks for the novices in MIGS concerning safety and standard care during Total Laparoscopic Hysterectomy in terms of healthy workplace environment and safe and sound surgical steps. In Surgical Tutorial 3: Surgery for Endometriosis: Identifying the Limits, Chair Helder Ferreira (Portugal) and Faculty Nicolas Bourdel (France) and Mario Malzoni (Italy) will present surgical procedures for treating bladder endometriosis include laparoscopic shaving of serosal lesions and full-thickness resection of deeply infiltrating lesions. The goals of surgical treatment are to remove the endometriotic lesion(s), restore ureteral anatomy, and prevent loss of renal function. Through this course attendees will know how to study a presumptive diagnosis of urinary endometriosis according to the symptoms, imaging, and endoscopic studies and understand how to treat intrinsic and extrinsic ureteral endometriosis using the indocyanine green fluorescence. In Surgical Tutorial 4: High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) in Functional Gynecological Diseases, presented by Chair Gil Dubernard (France) and Faculty Kullervo Hynynen (Canada) and Min Xu (China), participants will gain a global vision of the applications of HIFU in OBGY, understand the two guiding systems used (MRI or ultrasound) and their advantages and disadvantages; learn the therapeutic indications for uterine fibroids, adenomyosis, and DIE; and know that this treatment can be performed even if the pregnancy project is not achieved. In Surgical Tutorial 5: Constant Clear Visualization – The Key to a Good Hysteroscopy, Chair: Martin Farrugia (UK) and Faculty: Tanvir Singh (India) and Attilio Di Spiezio Sardo (Italy) will train participants to understand the normal anatomy and physiology of the uterus, learn the interplay of flow rates, intrauterine pressure, distention, and intravasation in context with proper visualization, and be able to diagnose and treat pathology inside the uterine cavity. Lastly, Surgical Tutorial 6: Gender Affirmation Surgery presented by Chair Cecile Ferrando (USA) and Faculty Rados P. Djinovic (Serbia) and Ervin Kocjancic (USA) will provide attendees with an overview of the techniques used to perform penile inversion and peritoneal pull-through vaginoplasty for transfeminine patients as well as metoidioplasty and phalloplasty for transmasculine patients seeking gender affirmation surgery. 

It is a great honor to Chair this year’s program and to see these courses come to fruition. I am certain that each of you will take away something meaningful that will build your skills and enhance your practice. I look forward to seeing you all in Nashville!